Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Cat's Anemone Hat

I'm lucky enough to spend time in places where people like Cat Bordhi hang out. That way I can shamelessly beg her to use Lorna's Laces yarn in one of her designs. Well, that shameless begging just paid off in the form of her Anemone Hat.

Is it going to get any cuter than that? I mean really?

But as hard as it might be, I want you to put the cute aside and take a look at all the fun you're going to have knitting it. First of all, there's the moebius brim. Cat is the bomb when it comes to the mobius. This pattern includes updated instructions too!

Not only do you get to do the moebius, you get to learn how to how to make the tendrils. Cat credits Annie Modesitt with teaching her how to make tendrils. That's a whole lot of knitting smarts all wrapped up in one pattern.

As if all that isn't enough, this is a one skein project. Yep folks, you heard it here first, you can make your Anemone with just one skein of Shepherd Worsted. (You'll need an extra skein for the adult sizes if you want extra tendrils.) Cat says "Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted is an absolutely perfect choice: Soft as butter against the skin, and when washed and dried, as bouncy as you could possibly hope for. I rarely declare that a particular yarn is the very best for something; in this case it is." Blush.

She does include a bit of a warning though:

If you wear an Anemone Hat, you will have to get used to being stopped by strangers who are smiling at you and want to tell you how much they like your hat. In the Pacific Northwest, I wear my hats fall through spring, and they inspire ten times as many comments as anything else I have ever designed. An Anemone Hat can provide all these things for you: cozy warmth, beauty, a non-prescription anti-depressant, and a good-hair day.

Darling hat...definitely necessary for Chicago where the weather is just so moody and windy. Those tendrils would blow around like crazy on a windy day...which is like nearly everyday here in the Windy City? Anyhow, those tendrils...they could be used on clothes too. Preferably not all over the body though, just an accent. But this is a Christmas present if there ever was one.